Premature Evaluation: Frank Ocean Channel Orange

Let’s get this out of the way first: Last week, when Frank Ocean wrote plainly and beautifully about a past relationship, one with someone who shared his gender, it was an act of absolute bravery and inspiration, and a watershed moment for a rap universe that has, in this respect at least, inched toward enlightenment more slowly than the rest of the world. Just about everyone acknowledges this. But, in various shady corners of the internet, I’ve seen speculation that Ocean’s coming-out moment came so close to his album-release date for more cynical reasons. And I don’t think I can emphasize this enough: This speculation is wrong. From the moment we all heard the astonishing 10-minute “Pyramids,” if not before then, we all knew that Channel Orange was going to be something special. The few people who’d been granted access to listening sessions reported back as much. And now Channel Orange is here, dropped onto the internet right around midnight so that we could all experience it together. And yeah, Channel Orange is a special album, an utterly absorbing piece of art. Frank Ocean’s story is a wonderful thing, but the album didn’t need it. The album, in itself, is enough.

When we talk about Frank Ocean, there’s so much context and backstory to consider. There’s his sexuality, which he has admirably resisted labeling even as he discusses it with us. There are his years languishing on the major-label shelf, cranking out works for hire and staying invisible. There’s his emergence as a voice of peace within the anarchic Odd Future crew, an association that only makes sense if you think about everyone involved as kids striving for transcendence. There’s the Weeknd, and last-year’s mini-boom of the so-called PBR&B, and Ocean’s debatable place within it. There’s the fact that you can’t turn on a TV without seeing a movie trailer that uses Frank’s hook on “No Church In The Wild” as background music. Ocean’s only been on the collective radar for about a year and a half, but there are already so many intriguing and fascinating storylines to untangle. But here’s the important part: When Channel Orange is on, those storylines melt away into the ether. The album becomes its own universe, and none of the other stuff matters. That would be a powerful achievement coming from any artist. From one as young and green as Ocean, it’s a revelation. Nostalgia, Ultra. was an announcement of a major talent. Channel Orange is something else. It’s an instant classic, one that creates its own context.

For me, at least, “Bad Religion,” which Ocean performed stunningly on Jimmy Fallon last night, is the album’s finest moment — Ocean’s eye settling on a moment in the back of a cab, which gives him a chance to lament on lost love, debate theology and direction with his driver, wonder where he fits into the world. It’s a devastatingly still and personal song, one that renders personal uncertainty as something so specific that it feels universal.

But all of Channel Orange isn’t as focused on Ocean himself — or, at least, I don’t think it is. For much of the album, he floats into the background, conveying other people’s life situations with empathy and imagination. On “Sweet Life” and “Super Rich Kids,” he turns into a black Bret Easton Ellis, giving voice to the disconnected and drugged-out elite children of Ladera Heights; I love how Earl Sweatshirt deadens his lively flow to stay in character. On “Crack Rock,” he sings about what happens when those kids and those drugs become too well-acquainted, and he does it without judgement. On “Lost,” he’s a disaffected world-traveling drug kingpin — Rick Ross, but with pathos. On “Monks,” he’s completely left the earthly plane, fantasizing about finding nirvana through moshing or fucking.

Musically, Channel Orange doesn’t make a whole lot of references to other pieces of music, like the obvious samples on Nostalgia, Ultra., and I think that’s an artistic decision, not a sample-budget thing. The music here is luxurious and reserved; it bends and swells in ways that don’t immediately grab attention, and even the John Mayer guitar solos fit into the greater whole. When Ocean does reach out to other pieces of music, as when he sings a snatch of Mary J. Blige’s “Real Love” on “Super Rich Kids,” it feels natural to the song — like its characters are seizing on the one thing they can find that actually expresses how they feel. And the album’s musical world is a soft and gentle place, an ideal bed for Ocean’s angelic floating-dove voice. Ocean’s voice is just a wonder: A conversational croon that can express big ideas without making a big deal about them, and it launches into an unearthly falsetto without straining itself.

Now that we’ve heard their respective sophomore efforts, it seems nuts that anyone ever compared Ocean to the Weeknd, a self-styled predatory lothario with a decidedly limited scope. Instead the parallel that makes the most sense is Channel Orange‘s strongest competition for album of the year: Fiona Apple’s The Idler Wheel… (Swear to god I though of this comparison before a prominent critic friend Tweeted it.) Ocean, like Apple, disappeared within his brain and came out with an album as richly expressive as it is musically vivid. Both of them take stylistic risks without broadcasting those risks. Both of them are completely in control of their luminous, inimitable voices. And both of them have given us some heavy shit to chew on. After it’s been on repeat for hours, I feel like I’m still just skimming Channel Orange. I can’t wait to dig deeper.

Well said. While it’s not a concept album by definition I think there’s definitely a thematic arc that winds through the songs even beyond the obvious “super rich kids”, “sweet life”, “crack rock” vignette.

It’s all about finding a sense of personal identity at a historical moment where doing so can make you feel less like an individual; about looking at the world around you and treating it like one big person, understanding strengths and weaknesses.

” Instead the parallel that makes the most sense is Channel Orange‘s strongest competition for album of the year: Fiona Apple’s The Idler Wheel…”

Saying The Idler Wheel…is competition for Frank Ocean makes Fiona Apple seem worse. Don’t you dare treat Fiona Apple like she’s come cog in your hype machine. And I think that Frank Ocean’s voice not making a big deal out of big deals is my main reason for not enjoying his music. Fiona Apple’s voice will sharp and flat and crack and strain when she’s desperately trying to reach us, and that’s how you’re supposed to do it.

Seriously? It’s true that vocal flaws in recorded music can enhance its emotion and raw appeal, but to suggest that that’s the way music is supposed to be is to suggest that those flaws are part of the formula. I think Fiona Apple’s strains help convey the feeling of her lyrics just like you do, but that’s just how she is. Can you imagine if Frank Ocean’s voice was like that? It would completely destroy the appeal that you clearly can’t see. His voice is smooth as SHIT and that’s how he just does it. And that’s exactly how I think it’s supposed to be.

I’m not a fan of del rey either, but the backlash on her earlier this year was ridiculous, and I was just thinking: they’re two blog-hyped, low-key semi-R&B singers with the same sort of appeal making major label debuts in the same year.

By the way, what the hell does singing about cars have to do with talent?

fair point mickrandom, but the fact they both generated blog buzz is about where the similarities end. Lana del Rey had no body of work (well, she did, but she didn’t want us to know about it), Frank made “nostalgia/ULTRA”, which was one of the best 5 albums released in 2011.

Frank Ocean has STAYING POWER, and I know it’s too early to know that, but I can feel it…

So stoked that “Thinking About You” made the record. It is gross how many times I listened to that early version, and it is even more gross that I am about to at least double my play count with the new version. Gross.

Well folks it looks like we’re well on our way to Frank Ocean being in the top three most commented on articles of the week, or however that works. It’s my hope that by weeks end Frankie will have taken all 5 spots which would have to be some sort of record, especially for a R&B artist. Usually he’d have to pee on somebody to get this kind of attention.

Seriously though this album is the bee’s knees and I’m digging all the positive comments I’ve been reading about it.

I’m tired of celebrity (or otherwise well-known people) coming out stories being described as “brave and inspirational” or treated as the best thing ever. LGBTQ artists that are out from the start I find to be more brave and more inspirational (unless their discovery/acceptance of their LGBTQ identity was newly realized in the middle of their career).

I get that – but it’s not as if the community is impermeable. People that are not in the R&B/Hip-hop community can still like and dislike him. So just because the R&B/hip-hop community may be a harder nut to crack for an LGBTQ artist, it may not be the only community that could/would/should support him.

Either way it should have no bearing on how we perceive the music in its purest form. And I feel a little guilty about bringing it up.

So, no one has the wherewithal to realize his “coming out” happened right before the album is to drop? I have seen over and over people saying he’s so brave, but who is he? Crazy how he felt the need to be so honest just in time to drum up attention before the release date. So now you know this intimate detail of his back story causing an emotional attachment to the music. Clever. Well, not those who fell for it.

I don’t know if you are being sarcastic or trolling (by the looks of your name and fact that this is your first comment with it, probably the latter), but I will help you out with a little recap:

1. Frank Ocean dropped arguably (I concur) the best R & B album of 2011(It was just a mixtape, too). 2. Frank Ocean has been a songwriter for a few years and is credited for songs by Beiber, Beyonce, and the Throne (EVERYONE here would kill for that resume) 3. Frank Ocean is the only male singer component of Odd Future (Whether you like it or not, they are kind of a big deal. Fox New couldn’t even ignore them.). 4. Frank Ocean was a week or so from releasing his CD when one keen journalist at a listening party (for major publications because his record has been anticipated by a bunch of people) noticed the fact that a few songs substituted the traditional (from a male R & B POV) “she” pronoun for “he” (as if the subject in a few of these songs was male). As rumors began circulating via social media bull**** (twitter) he decided to release the ALREADY PRINTED/PLANNED LINEAR NOTES FOR THIS NEW ALBUM (Channel Orange, if I’ve lost you) to the public.

If this is one big conspiracy (I highly doubt it, but maybe we will find out in fifty years when the government releases their secrets from this year), then you have to admit that the guy is incredibly smart. However, coming out as gay (to any degree) in a predominantly black music genre is close to career suicide. There are always rumors of gay rappers and R & B singers (Luther Vandross and Trey Songz come to mind) but no one ever fesses up because of the ramifications.

Pitchfork did an article on NYC’s gay rapper scene earlier this year that was incredibly intriguing. I had never heard of any of them, and I doubt the general public or even underground rap scene were very familiar with them, because they don’t get publicity (and there are some incredibly talented gay emcees. Cakes da Killa and Le1f are my favorites). Even in the underground rap game, I would bet my last dollar that the most commonly used epithet for enemies and rivals is the f-word and some variation on the theme.

That was a bit of a tangent (although Ocean is associated with Odd Future and they are known for “keeping it real” (male braggadocio, extreme use of the f-word), but going back to my original point, Frank Ocean has cojones grandes for putting his career in jeopardy by being honest. He seemed to be planning on just outing himself to his fans, but the media has a way of running with things (this isn’t a horrible but it does get annoying). I can assure you that there wouldn’t be as big a fuss if the music was mediocre. Your comment might have been sarcastic, but sometimes I am not sure with the way some people comment and etc. on the net.

No, I just have little to zero tolerance for people that post bull**** before reading or assessing an article/situation. While writing my long-ass opinion, I wasn’t completely sure whether or not douchetard was a trap troll account, but now I am certain (and probably owned by you). I know that you didn’t bother to read my other essay a few comments below this one, and I am not going to paraphrase it for you, but I love that you singled me out for being on Frank’s dick. I question it, but I am not easily blinded by controversy and hype surrounding art and my opinion of the record hasn’t really been swayed by those events.

Now if you accused me of being on Liars’ dicks (or is that a collective dick?), I would admit guilt..Guilty as charged.

Does anyone else suddenly feel like “Novacane” from Nostalgia, Ultra is pretty obviously about a gay guy (at least in terms of who he falls in love with) who’s loved by a girl he realizes is perfect (goes to Berkeley, earns tuition doing porn, wants to be a dentist — what’s not to love?), and who he wants to love back, but he just can’t, even though he appreciates how amazing her love is and really wants to love her back for her own sake? Plus ummm tons of drugs???

not at all… on Novacane he feels “numb” to the other girls because he is still obsessed with the first one.

do people not realize that all the letters in LGBT stand for a different word? I didn’t see anywhere in Franks letter that suggested he has ONLY ever fallen in love with men, just that his first love was towards a man. This doesn’t mean that all his songs about women are insincere or to switch every single gender in all the songs off Nostalgia, Ultra.

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